


Because the Night

by ExpressAndAdmirable



Series: The Heroes of Light [22]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Final Fantasy I
Genre: Drow, Enthusiastic Consent, F/F, Romance, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, Tiefling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 09:37:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13164213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExpressAndAdmirable/pseuds/ExpressAndAdmirable
Summary: Lux and Sol spend an extremely long-awaited and well-deserved night in a tavern.





	Because the Night

“Are illithids real?”

Sol choked on her wine, looking at Aviva with eyes nearly as huge as Morgan’s. The Tiefling nodded with an academic humph. “Thought so. I’ve read about them, but I could never tell if they were fiction or fact.” She dragged on her cigarette and turned her head to exhale away from the Drow.

“Fact,” Sol responded, blinking away the moment of panic. “Definitely fact.”

Aviva smiled apologetically and passed Sol the cigarette. “That bad, huh?” She shifted into a sitting position and reached across Sol’s lap to retrieve her cup from the bedside table. They were finally spending the night in an actual room, complete with beds and a lock on the door; after weeks on the road, it felt positively luxurious. The plan had been to push the two beds together, but their desperate release of pent-up urges as soon as the door closed proved the two of them could fit on one bed just fine.

“More surprised that _that’s_ what you want to know about Deepgift.” Sol let her lungs fill with spiced smoke, looking sidelong at the Tiefling beside her.

Aviva shrugged. “I’ll get there eventually. I like a good roundabout conversation, and we’ve got all night. Do Drow dance?”

“They do, in fact.”

“Do _you_ dance?”

Sol smiled, purposefully mysterious. “Maybe someday I’ll show you.”

Aviva squeaked gleefully from behind her cup, making Sol’s smile broaden. “I love to dance. Mourat taught me all the important Cornerian court dances, and some from abroad, but he taught me how regular folk dance, too. Much more useful when you’re trying to entertain a tavern or a city fair. Half of court dancing is bowing, anyway. It’s very stuffy, a lot less fun.”

“Mourat, your mentor.” Sol nodded to herself as she returned the cigarette, following along. She enjoyed sitting back and listening when Aviva got herself on a roll, keenly aware how privileged she was to witness it. It showed the depth of Aviva’s trust in her, a gift not given lightly and one she planned to fiercely guard.

“The very same. He helped me develop the Lux persona, too. I mean, it was already my surname, but he encouraged me to use it for performances, as a sort of protection. My mother chose it for us after my father died, as a ward against darkness. I used to think she was just superstitious, but considering everything we’ve been through recently, she might have been on to something.” Aviva lifted her arms slightly, looking at the various runes and sigils inked into her skin. “Maybe it runs in the family.” She paused to smoke, observing Sol’s face with a loving smile. “Funny how two different Heroes of Light have names related to light, and neither of them are their proper names.”

“I didn’t choose it.” Sol shrugged. “I also didn’t choose for my magic to be bright and gold. But that’s where the name came from. One of the priests thought it suited me.” She accepted the offered cigarette and took the final drag before extinguishing it into the dish on the table.

“No wonder you suggested ‘sunshine’ as a nickname,” Aviva pondered aloud, trying to seem pensive but unable to hide her amusement. “It fits your celestial theme. So where does ‘Feldryn’ come from?”

Sol smirked at the conjured memory. “The name of an old paladin at the temple. He thought I needed two names like the rest of you surface folk, so he lent me his.”

Aviva snorted. “Yeah, great job blending in. No-one would ever guess there’s a Drow under those wrappings, not with a good strong name like that.” She leaned in to kiss Sol’s cheek. “Though I can’t give you too much shit, I’ve never been good at blending in. I was the only Tiefling in my class, and one of only a handful in the city. We tend to be noticed. So, I decided to slap on some glitter and make the attention worth my while.” She sipped her wine. “Why Tyr?”

“His was the first temple I found after I left Deepgift.”

“Convenience?”

“Serendipity. You learn to trust the signs when the gods are involved.”

Aviva nodded as she considered that. “Fair. He did pick you as his paladin, that’s pretty definitive. Are you still in contact with anyone from your temple?”

Sol shook her head. “I spent a couple years learning from the priests and paladins, figuring out what it meant to adopt a new god and all the potential fuckery that entails, then I started travelling as an arbiter.”

“Sounds lonely,” Aviva replied softly, almost to herself.

“It was the way I liked it.” Sol shrugged again, the corners of her mouth curling upwards. “I was doing pretty well with it, until you lot came crashing in.”

“Serendipity.” Aviva leaned in for another kiss, this time catching Sol’s lips. She loved how everything beyond them seemed to go quiet when they kissed, as if affording them fleeting moments of privacy amid the chaos of their journey. When they broke, she unfolded her legs and nestled against Sol’s side, sighing in contentment as the Drow wrapped an arm around her. Then a new thought gave her pause. “In the sewer under Castlefall, when we were trying to open that secret door, you mentioned a goddess ‘Eilistraee’. Who is she?”

Sol made a face into her cup. “The patron of exiled Drow.”

Aviva looked up at her in confusion. “Why did you think that would be the password to open the door?”

“Moonlight is one of her aspects. Song, dance, goodness, beauty, all of that business.”

Never one to turn down a little playful antagonism, Aviva watched Sol’s expression with a raised eyebrow. “I can tell from your face what your opinion of her is, but none of what you’re saying is making her at all unappealing.”

“She’s not popular,” Sol answered with a scowl.

“Sounds perfect.” Aviva grinned. Eilistraee sounded much like her own goddess. Perhaps they were together, in wherever it was gods dwelt. Sol scoffed, but knew better than to disagree, instead closing the topic by planting a kiss on Aviva’s forehead. The Tiefling finished the rest of her wine and reached over Sol to place the cup on the table, leaving her arm draped across the Drow’s bare stomach. “This is nice.”

“Mmm.”

“I think I’m going to buy strawberries tomorrow.”

“Mmm?”

“Yeah. I saw a fruit stand in the market earlier, and I think I’m going to double back there before we leave tomorrow. We have to head in that direction to pick up your armour anyway.” Aviva’s fingers moved idly across Sol’s skin, tracing nonexistent designs. “I can’t resist fruit, when I have the money for it. Right after dad died, mum and I were too poor to afford more than the basics, so fruit became a luxury. It still feels that way to me; an indulgence, something special. So I’m going to indulge.”

“Frankly, I’m troubled by all the colours in your surface food.” Sol’s smirk belied the seriousness in her tone. “Why are so many of your vegetables green?”

The movements of her hand forgotten, Aviva fully turned her head to look up at Sol incredulously. “Photosynthesis. Sunshine, like actual sunshine. That’s how it works. Why, what colour are they supposed to be?”

“Not green,” Sol answered firmly.

“Better not come to market with me tomorrow, then. I may threaten you with celery.” Aviva poked at Sol’s ribs, as if stabbing her with an imaginary vegetable.

“Careful. My warrior’s instincts might take over. Shield bash the Tiefling with the veg.” Sol set her cup on the table and made as if to bat her hand away, but changed her mind at the last second, lacing their fingers together and resting them back on her stomach. For a few moments, neither spoke, each simply enjoying the warmth of the other.

“What were you like when you were little?” Aviva finally asked.

“Shorter.”

The Tiefling gave her a withering look, and she smirked in return before softening. “I was a very, very serious child. Not much was funny to little Haluei’en.”

“Haluei’en,” Aviva repeated, almost wistfully. She blinked. “I wonder if we’re going to start hearing your real name more often, now that you’ve told the others. It’ll be an odd transition.”

Sol shrugged one shoulder. “I doubt it. No-one seems to be using it so far.”

“Maybe not yet. But there’s still Deepgift.”

Aviva felt Sol tense slightly, as she always did when discussing their inevitable return to her former home. But that was a conversation for another night, and Aviva had the perfect recovery. “You see, General,” she began, swinging a leg over Sol's and sitting lightly on her thighs, “the trouble is, despite my best efforts, your name has become very strongly associated with sex. Turns out it’s quite satisfying to say in the moment.”

One white brow rose, along with one corner of the Drow’s mouth. “Is that so?”

“Oh yes,” Aviva replied, nodding seriously. “It’s most unfortunate.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad to me.” Sol slipped her hands through Aviva’s legs and seized her backside, pushing her up onto her knees and eliciting a yelp of surprise followed by a laugh as she slid down the bed beneath her. “Don’t move,” she instructed; once Aviva nodded her assent, she placed a series of featherlight kisses on the Tiefling’s inner thighs, moving closer with each touch of her lips. Aviva braced her hands against the headboard of the bed, just in time to keep herself from collapsing as Sol ignited a shockwave inside her.

The Drow wasted no time, sending dizzying, shuddering waves through her lover’s body, until abruptly, she paused. “Any other questions, by the way?” she asked, her voice vibrating directly into Aviva’s core.

“They can wait,” Aviva murmured, breathless and desperate, making a hasty mental note to exact revenge for the injustice. She heard (felt) Sol chuckle softly, then ecstasy overtook her. She gripped the headboard so tightly her knuckles ached, letting her head roll back even as she fought to keep her hips still. As she hit her peak she cried out for Haluei’en, instinctual and natural as breath, and the Drow’s nails dug into her flesh at the sound. She repeated it softly as she gasped for air, her voice a plea; a moment later the weight on the bed shifted and she folded into Sol’s waiting arms.

_Yeah. Deepgift is going to be awkward._

**Author's Note:**

> Title song by Patti Smith.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr at @expressandadmirable for a proper table of contents for the Heroes campaign, commissioned character art, text-based roleplay snippets and more!


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